Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A Berry Luscious Treat

It is strawberry season and my friend from next door (mom to Shanti the husky) informed me that she had 2 pounds of plump strawberries patiently waiting in her fridge. She happens to own an ice cream maker and the fate of the strawberries was sealed once we found this easy, gorgeous recipe.

We decided to make the ice cream together by which I mean that Shanti's mom pressed the on button on the blender and I stood behind her to lend moral support. Because this is all the work that the recipe needs.

No-Cook Strawberry Ice Cream
(adapted from this recipe from Kitchen Parade, makes 6-8 servings)

1. Blend together
  • 1 lb. fresh strawberries, cleaned, stem removed and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1 box (8 oz.) low-fat cream cheese, cut in chunks
  • 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • pinch of salt
2. Freeze in an ice cream maker and serve. Tastes best as a soft-serve rather than completely frozen.

Everyone who tasted this ice cream, including one person who insisted that he does not like strawberry ice cream loved it. For one thing, it has that glorious, fresh, spring-like, girly shade of pink without the yummy addition of FD&C Red No. 40. It is bursting with strawberry flavor and the sugar has a mere supporting role. If you love fruit and hate sugary desserts, this one is for you.

The no-cook ice cream recipes are good to have in one's repertoire. Over the summer, I'd love to try out some more of them, like this chocolate banana ice cream and this pistachio rosewater ice cream.

Last night, Neighbor Girl went grocery shopping and came back with a treat for us, cute little single serving cups of chocolate peanut butter ice cream from Haagen Daaz (and all normal sounding ingredients, imagine that). It was to die for. Of course, I promptly found this double chocolate peanut butter ice cream recipe that I have to try ASAP.

I don't own an ice cream maker yet but might get one later this summer- they really seem to come in handy for quick desserts. Until then, I'll use the old elbow grease method, whipping ice cream by hand a few times as it freezes. 


Fresh off the Hooks and Needles

A couple of crocheted hats adorned with cheerful flowers:

Can you tell what creature is lurking on this hat?
It is a whole parliament of owls. The pattern is called "Who?" and is kindly shared on Penguin Purls. What a hoot!
The only depressing thing is that these hats are destined for a Children's Cancer Hospital. I truly wish we lived in a world where there was no need for chemo caps for wee kids (or for anyone else, for that matter). I couldn't help getting a lump in my throat as I made the little hats.

Have a good rest of the week; I have many things on my to-cook list but let's see what I can come up with next.

28 comments:

  1. Oh Nupur, the world cannot be perfect, can it, but your little work just makes it a better place with cute hats being worn by cuter kids fighting and winning the fight.

    I don't have an ice cream maker but I will just go out and buy those single servings of HG

    ReplyDelete
  2. wht bful crochet work...u r so creative dear...and tht strawberry icecream is calling me....look 2 the color girl...minblowing....

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the cream and the hats. only if i could go beyond knitting a scarf.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nupur, I understand the sentiment but every little bit counts right?.

    Delicious and fresh and your efforts have indeed paid off. On/Off is effort indeed.

    Can't you just walk over to neighbor girl and borrow the ice cream maker, so we can see the yummies you have mentioned very soon?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree about the icecream shade...vibrant, beautiful and very pleasant :) Thanks for shring this recipe.

    Loved the caps and I found out the owl too :). Yea, I too wish no children should go through the horror of chemotherapy. Nice hat for a nice cause and hats off to you !!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Its a really nice gesture on your part to knit those caps. You are bringing them comfort in some way. Kudos on that.

    And I'm trying this. Beacuse we have tons of strawberries that we picked lying in the freezer! Lovely colour, like you said!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The hubby has been clamoring to buy an ice cream maker for a couple of years now. I keep putting it off cause it is just easier to open a carton of HD. But this recipe looks simple enough. Maybe will surprise him on Father's day. :)
    Love the hats and they are for a good cause, however sad the cause might be.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I make a non-dairy version of this "ice cream", using apple juice in place of the milk. It's delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nupur, what a wonderful looking icecream :) And wow, I adore your crochet work, amazing and beautiful !!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. beautiful hats for a wonderful cause. thanks for sharing your talent.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey lovely icecreams, lovely caps, lovely cause... I think you and ur blog are awesome

    ReplyDelete
  12. Choose to remain anonymous:

    That is a very thoughtful thing Nupur. My babies were born premature (in 7th month) and the NICU that they were admitted at would give these cute knitted little skull caps, to keep them warm in the incubator. When the nurses told me that these skull caps were knitted by a 90 yr old lady @an old age home, I cannot tell you how touched and how greatful I was.

    Those caps are one of my prize posessions now, it tells me how simply and anonymously we can touch other peoples lives.
    And whenever my kids seem difficult, I can remind myself what I went thru to have them in my life and how many people's support I needed to get where I am today.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Icecream looks tempting! These hats are truly adorable. Feels bad for those kids though!

    ReplyDelete
  14. delicious looking icecream...and the caps look so cute

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey Nupur, ur ice cream is surely craving me to grab some right away, I mean look at those rosy pink colors. Who woudn't???

    ReplyDelete
  16. How do you find time to knit, work, cook, write a blog and I've no clue what else you do! Hats up to you - if I found the time, I would be inspired. :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love the ice cream. Those are cute caps and for a great cause. Children's cancer is one of the saddest thing but am sure those caps will bring a lot of joy to those kids.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Bravo.

    And now I'll flaunt my ignorance and ask if the lemon won't curdle the milk in this recipe? Really, how *does* this work?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Owls look beautiful in the hat!
    The kids are going to love them....there is a lot of sadness in the world but what is important is there are helpful people like you to make it a little better.
    After seeing your recipe, I wish I could buy an icecream maker but most probs no place in the kitchen! Maybe later :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Very creative hats, and a beautiful sentiment to match Nupur. I guess in the imperfect world that we live in, it's these little 'perfect' sentiments that make imperfections feel less... well imperfect.

    Also, I loved the ice cream recipe. I'm a huge fan of strawberry-the fruit, but I hate anything strawberry flavored, because it reminds me of the cough syrups back home. This recipe reminded me of the only strawberry ice cream I ate as a kid in Mahabaleshwar, made of fresh strawberries. I guess it's time to go shopping for an ice-cream maker.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nupur wonderful crochet caps and great cause behind. My respect for you keeps increasing everyday. Ofcourse it is a great pain to see kids suffer, but I guess people like you make them feel a lot better and happier. In tamil we usually say " Unakku kodi punyam kidaikum" that holds true for every noble act of yours. Keep up the good work, not everyone takes time and effort to make this world a better place to live and touch lives of people unknown to them. You are a true source of inspiration

    And of course wonderful icecream too :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Beautiful crochet caps....and so the ice cream looks delicious

    ReplyDelete
  23. Bong Mom- Oh the single servings of HG are cute and for once, they are human-sized portions if you know what I mean, so often I buy ice cream and each cone is enough for a family!

    Sanyukta Gour(Bayes)- Yes, I loved the color too.

    Soma- If you can knit a scarf, you are only a couple of baby steps away from knitting hats and shawls and anything else you want :)

    indosungod- Oh this particular neighbor is moving to another city next week and the ice cream maker is moving with her :D
    Trust me, I borrowed her ice cream maker 3-4 times in the past month, but looks like sooner or later I will bite the bullet and buy my own.

    Life is beautiful!!!- Thanks!

    A&N- Well, if it is strawberries you picked yourself the ice cream will taste even better :)

    Jaya Wagle- This is just as simple as opening a carton of ice cream and as a reward it yields more servings :) it would definitely be a sweet surprise for Fathers' Day.

    Lydia- Oh how fun, using apple juice sounds like an excellent idea!

    Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal- Thanks!

    anjali- They are really fun to make (and quick too).

    Lakshmi- Why, that's a very kind thing to say- thank you!

    Anonymous- What a perfectly sweet story, thank you for sharing that! You know, I often knit caps for causes (including tiny ones for preemies in the NICU) and always wonder where they end up, you sort of release them into the world so to speak. I am so touched that parents do care about this simple gesture. One always hopes that a hand-knitted thing (and trust me, knitters put their love into every stitch) is a warm object in the sterile hospital environment.

    Purnima- Thanks

    notyet100- Thanks

    M D- Yes, the color made me so happy :)

    Anonymous- You don't find the time, you simply make the time to do the things you love :)

    Rajee- I do hope the caps bring a smile, yes.

    Niranjana- Good question, and I think the answer is that (a) the other ingredientslike cream and cream cheese stabilize the mixture and (b) it does not matter even if the milk does curdle because it will form something like buttermilk and become part of the ice cream.

    Sangeetha- I have the same problem, tiny kitchen makes it hard to store too many appliances!

    JK- I completely agree with you, strawberry flavor is horrid with such a medicinal taste. But you will love the fresh and real-berry taste of this recipe.

    koki- Oh goodness this is no noble act, just what I do for a hobby. I need to find homes for all the stuff I keep making ;)

    Priti- Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Nupur, what a lovely thing you do for the children! I am so inspired by your knitting for a cause story. I got a lump in my throat reading your post. I think the owls are just adorable, too! That ice cream maker wish is on my list as well, but I'd have to play with the soy milk stuff to get it right and all. Maybe stick with sorbet for now. Lovely hats!

    ReplyDelete
  25. hey..this looks sinful..

    can you please post a method where this can be done without using an ice cream maker?
    Thanks..

    ReplyDelete
  26. Nupur, reading your posts always inspire me to do something; either its cooking, or knitting or crocheting or just chatting with the neighbors. You are always so thoughtful about using your knits and crochets to help others and put a smile on their faces.. you are awesome, you know that, right :) And I just don't understand how you find all this time to do cooking/knitting/reading.. unless you are in that part of universe where time slows down (bad joke, i know, but couldn't resist!)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Kelly- Lydia (another blogger) mentioned that apple cider is a good substitute for milk in this recipe. Your knitting is an inspiration and I look forward to reading more of it on your blog.

    KamalKitchen- Check these links out:

    http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/07/making_ice_crea_1.html

    http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/how-to-make-ice-cream-without-an-ice-cream-maker-026055

    http://maona.net/archives/2007/03/making_ice_crea.php

    PJ- What a sweet and kind thing to say! All I know is that life is short and I want to make the best of it and do everything I love :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. hi nupur,am new to yur blog n lov it :D

    cud i use paneer instead of low fat cheese? i dnt hav an icecream maker n will try the elbow grease method!!! i hav sum cream to be used up n wat btr way to eat it?thanks :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for leaving a comment- I try to respond to every single one.